Manufacture of playing-balls.



m. 696,352. Patented Mar. 25, I902.

F. H. RICHARDS. MANUFACTURE OF PLAYING BALLS. (Application filed Dec. Y, 1901.}

(No Model.) 1/

my UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS 1-1.. RICHARDS, on HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, nssionon TO THE KEMPSI-IALL MANUFACTURING .CoMPANY, A CORPO A ION on NEW JERSEY. p

MANUFACTURE OF PLAYING-BALLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 696,352, dated March 25, 1902.

Application filed ljece'mber 9 1901. Serial No. 86,140. (No model.) I

To aZZ whom, it may'conoern: threads contracting as the other portions Be itk-nown that I, FRANCIS II.RIOHARDS,a weaken in the heat. citizen of the United States, residing at Hart- The object of my invention is to avoid these ford, in the county of Hartford and State of objections and to produce a ball which is ca- 5 Connecticut, have invented certain new and pable of absorbing froman implement a great useful Improvements in the Manufacture of momentum, so that it may carry'or fly a long Playing-Balls, of which the following is a distance. I aim to minimize the distortion specification. of the ball, so as to avoid waste of driving- This invention relates to springy playingforce in changing and rechanging its shape.

10 balls, and especially to those to-which it is I also aim to produce a ball having uniform desired to impart. great momentum, so that action, so that a given blow may always prothey lnay flya long distance. duce the same result, thus conducing to re- Playing-balls have sometimes been made" liability and accuracy of action of the ball. of soft rubber in the form-of hollow spheres; I. further" aim to prolong the life of the balli 1 x 5 but these are so yielding that theysuffer vio- In the drawings forming part of this specilent distortion from the blows of implements, fication,"Figure 1 is a cross-section of'one' kind so that undue power is consumed in .-alte ring of apparatus which may be employed in prothe shape of the ball, which, moreover, fails ducing my improved ball, an unformed ballf to-receive sufficient impetus to carry it very being shown in theapparat us and a. process" -20 far,- particularlysince the ball is normally in of manufacture beingalsoindicated. Fig; 2

a'dead condition and does not become resistis a view similar to Fig. 1, butshowingaballqo ing or lively until it has been-considerably as formed and ready to be withdrawn. Fig. distorted by the blow and does notalwaysre- 3 is a cross-seetionof a blankused in form act before it leaves the. implement. It has ing my improved ball, i-ndicating'oneway in 2 5 heretofore been sought to overcome some ,of' which-said blank may bel'made from-sections.

3'0 rendering the ball uncertain in action, so' that certain characteristics."

these objections by winding tensione'd rub} Fig. etisQa view of a blanli m'adein-one' piece. '7 5 b er thread into a ball. "This does not, hoiw- Fig. 5 is a'view, up'onalarger scale,'of a ballever, produce-a solid ball, as thew-finding is made in accordance with'my improvements, irregular 1 and numerous interstices occur, a portionibein'g broken away, so as to-ex b'lt it"does not'alw'aysjgivo the sameresponse to In the several views similar parts-"aretlesig tov the same blow Moreover, the outer'layer'of nated' by similar letters of-reference; elasticlthread'binds the innerlayers,prevent- Preferably I employ-1a hollow sphere .A',

ing them from acting longitudinally; Since Fig. 4:, made of soft'inid'iarubber, which may, 351 the -"inner .threads are merely placed under if desired, be purerubb'er, but is preferably soft-rubb'er-ball-is scarcely-enough to j ustify municateswith the hollow Oofthe sphere, .theex'pense of making a wound ball. 'hllorewhich may be made either integraL-as atFjig" etmpre sionm the outer threads, the slight a rubber compound having firmnessftand dijference inaction obtained overthat of a strength or' toughness. Anopening B coni j feo over, the rubber .th'read,;is not'thoronghly 4,'or of hemispheres A and'A?,.Fi'g. 3',.-sai

- 45. of -heat;

cured, and; the effect-of putting'lit under ion]- hemispheres being'suitably united. l-place o dinaPtensjon is to-lessen,its life, jso that the sphereAin aspherical cham'ber-ILfor-ined s i a very shortti-me the hall is rendered" un-ain'a moldconsistingofopposinghalves Bland "fitjfor [Eire action of .everi"'a low degree F,- h'avi ng registering dowelsiG'and clamped juriousto thetensioned and 'untogether by any suitable means. Each of r e thread, causiu'gjderangement of said-members E and F may have one-halfjo'f- .th .shap'eoiithe ballgespeei ly:ifjthelatter the chamber D, whichl maybe,eonsiderably' auowaue, e with one s'ideexpelsedtothe' flarge'r: than-the blank sphere-ilk, Intel-"the 3 l otsu-u', theicool'e portionsofith'eterisioned. .openingB inj-the'latterIinsertthelmouthofi 'eeasaz .---a-:funneL-.: ITI, which is-.vshcwn lasi pmtetrating into the hollow (J-,;-although, thisis not important in all cases. .By means of said funnel the interior of the ball is placed in communication with a vessel or receptacle J, formed or provided in the apparatus above the chamber D, said receptacle preferably being round and having a closely-fitting plunger K. I place in the receptacle J a quantity of material, preferably gutta-percha, which may by the action otheat be reduced to a plastic or fluid condition, as at L, Fig. 1. This material flows down the funnel I- I into the hollow of the rubber sphereA and drives out the air through a vent M, which in this instance is illustrated as a groove formed in the side wall of the main opening 13 and lying without the funnel H. In the portion 1* of the mold there may be provided a vent N, communicating at P with the ball-vent M, so the .air escaping from the ball may be con ducted out of the apparatus. The fluid or plastic material may therefore'settle or be forcedby the plunger K; through the funnel H,,soas to completely fill the interior of theball A, whereupon the vent N in the mold may be closed by a screw-plug Q, Fig. 2, the overflow of-the material into or through said vent indicating to the workman that-the hollow Q has been filled. By means of suitable appliances the plunger K may be pressed still farther down, so as to force more of the h lli'n'g material into the interior of the ball, causing the walls thereof toyield and distendsp 'erical chamberD n the mold, as atiFig.

between themold-section or through a vent;

the ball 'untilit completely fills the large The air may escapejrom the chamber '1-.f Sufficient forcemay beapplied,. it desireito compress the-rubber shell betweentlie gntta-perchaand"the 'w-alls'ot the chain ber; The gutta percha or other material is al'- lowed to passifrom a liquid into adry or hard" condition While the lunger .is..still I pressed.

down,-so that'the" ciojre thus;formed.- is in a .stateef compression and so that the expanded condition of the' rub bershellor'envelo'p A lis l made permanenthy reason of this olidificamien of the core,- r

Th 9 ietli is c 'es y-i d h 1-; wh ch it'isw olded-f T e. 1 .may

e taken "apart: and the ball removed,

, stead of methane nO -n'te e to n y beater-cod through the blank at any point,

si s Rr ahLY hee' en re at is n oiie' than halt .Lthatpf the; complete fall". ln practice l an thatfbymaki ng the care-- h e nsh e s swythesnh equ t s: reR

two thir ds.ofjthe-diamet; ofthe finished ball I-'I .bein'gwit-hdrawn and the-hole eit-th r by' n the al s fi'l'ledw th ,rubberplug S,,Eig. 5. The aperture 13 M "may HJ m'ittQdf s he. .bl nkl rand nod Wh''n. the (lore (Impressed and the uality of highly-vulcanized The principal effect of expanding a' core within the envelop resides in producing a longitudinal tension of the latter, such tension, which of course extends in all directions around the ball, being indicated by concentric broken lines A atl igs. 2 and 5 and being most pronounced at or near the outer or surface portion of the ball. The inner portion of said envelop is alsoin a state of compression between the outer portion of the envelop and the core, such compression being indicated by radial lines A and being greatest near the inner surface of the envelop, where said radial lines are thickest. Thus the inner portion of the envelop is practically in a state of compression, the median portion is both compressed and-tensioned, while the extreme outer portion is in estate of tension only. I y

It will be perceived that the materialof the entire ball from center to periphery is 'in an abnormal condition, the core being undercompression and the envelop being both com pressed and longitudinally tensioned, so that 'an extraordinary degree of efiiciency is' at tained, "every aifected particle of the ball acting with prom ptnessand vigor in response'to a blow. Although the outer part of the shell or jacket is in a soft-condition and efiectually cushions the blow of an implement, still .the eifect of a blow is different 'from the effeet upon a ball having a uniform softness of texture, throughout. In the latter cases; se-

vere blow would violently distortftheball,

thus wasting power which should be'uztilized in giving impetus to the ball, whereas'in my 7 ball, the softness residesonly at thes-urtace,

and as soon as this slight resistance 'is ov, er -'v presence of the relatively hard selid. core,

.95 "come a high resistance is met, due .to' 'tliewhich not enlyitself absorbs mome-ntunrfrom j the implemenh'butalso-by reason of-itsselidity prevents undue;,di'stortion of the ball, so; that nearlyall of the'force going'from the im pl e'mentjtothe ballis utilized to impartvelo'city thereto. ItwilI also beg'u'nderstood that j e under theflsheck Ora blew the solid comers ball from '-the implement andals'o afieeti-hgother portions f' h envelop, so that almost -12'ointo action and instantlyreacts, thereby intparting a high degree-of activity or liveli'n'esjs 1 to the ball and causing th'esame to leave the implement at" high velocity. Only a slight if notaLl'the materialofthe envelop'is; called distortion is produced at any -portion,of'-'ti 1 e Ball, whose entire mass is thus reudered'aetimplement; :It: will be understoo iv'e in restorin'gthe ball to itsorigin'al sphj I. I I icahsh-ap'e, and'fhence in reacting a ainst the ii: that the;

4s resides inthe durability of the finished .ball,

offered thereby. In this. instance this ratio is very high, the ball feeling quite soft to a light touch, but offering a hard resistance to pressure. The ball thus has practically all the desirable qualities of the usual soft-rubber ball and also a phenomenal flying or carrying power. Owing to the rapidly-increasing resistance even a heavy blow effects only a slight distortion of the envelop and, that only over a small area thereof, so that very littleforce is absorbed in changing and rechanging the form of the ball. Moreover, the period during which the driver may continue to deliver power into the ball itself is increased, with the result of giving to the ball a longer flight. The compressed core not only retains the envelop in an expanded state, but also supports the same when struck, and by the combined elasticity of core and envelop an extremely active and powerful ball is produced.

It will be noted that my rubber envelop is diiferent from one which is applied .in the usual manner in the form of a green or uncured-"coating upon. a center piece, since a coating made in such manner must be vul canizedin place, and in this process the whole mass of rubber becomes equalized in density and inert'or normally without tension. By having the interior of the rubber envelop or *coating in a'st'ate of compressionwhile'the outer portion is in a state of longitudinaltension the efiiciency of the ball isimproved and the envelop is not merely an inert portion having no force or tension except that which "is directlycaused by a driver.

It. is to be understood that my invention is not limited in all cases to the use of 'a springy center piece or core, since-otherroresv may be employed withinthe scopeof the-invention so long as aspherical or segmental elastic hollow ball or shell is permanently expanded o'v'epa solidor hard core which is too largefor the original capacity-of the former.

An important advantage" ofmy invention sincein'stead of employing the partially-cured rubber/threads of which balls are wound,

' a which are susceptible to many deleterious;

fliiiences, I employ rubber-of firm texture -.and:highly= vulva'i'iized', and hence notli'able "to*deterioratiom so that the hall not only withstands severe usage, but remains in its 7 original elastic-condition foralong time. In

the-fruhber-thread balls it is'--usual to stretch .-the;.tl1read"nearly tothe' breaking-point while winding, and, owing to such violent treat ment the thread'rapidlyloses its,life-,- parti.ou-- lar-l-ysince-it is. DO'li'Wfiill..OlllBd jWhllQ in-m-y' 'ball etter results are obtained by 'suhject in'g ru ber-. tyhiih;5i,s well cured.tqficofnsider ably less tension, thereby ,conducing to long life; of the-ball. E-i i fther, by; tensioning the her after the manner of, my ii ventionsi-t. an wr ings-hot, ball, the action of" a rrom. tne'ss-i the inner layers whereof is seriously impeded by the binding effect of the outer layers of thread. Moreover, in a rubber-threadiball the tensionis inonly one'direction, Whereas in my elastic envelop the tension is in all directions around the circumference of the ball, and hence the activity of all of the particles of the rubber envelop is fully developed, or, in short, the ball carries no dead-weight. Moreover, the ball thus formed has a uniform solidity or density which is not found in a thread ball on account of its interstices, and hence the same blow always produces the same results, en'abling'the user to play to better advantage. Should the original ball A be somewhat imperfect or irregular in construction or form, the expansion and solidification of the core in the described manner is found to compensate for such imperfection or irregularity, since the rubber envelop is caused to fit smoothly to the walls of the spherical chamber D inthe mold and such irregularities as may exist are caused to develop upon the inner surface ofsaid envelop, where they become embedded with the solid core,'and hence are rendered unobjectionable. Thus I produce a smooth true curvature of the periphery of the ball,whic'h is a desideratum.

' Modifications and variations maybe resorted to within the scope of 'my invention.

ball whether considered as complete and ready for useor as incomplete'a nd intended only for the nucleus or filling of'a larger ball.

a In my pending applications, Serial No. 85,892,

vfiled December 14, 1901, and Serial No. 88,842,

vention .used as a filling. It is not essential in all forms of my invention that the core 'whereon my elasticenvelop is stretched-be of springy material-or ,compressed norintiproduce a ball consisting of an elastic 'ical envelo stre hed'over a core.'.

-plication, SerialNo. 84,529, filed December 3, 190 .1.-

1. A process in producing playing-balls, consisting in forcin vintoaholljow elastic sphere to swellor expand .and form a permanent-core-ther'ein, 2. A process inproducing playing balls',

-saidg mass to form a permanent core;

sphere so as to fill-and swellthe la'tter,.:

allowing ,saidgnaterialjo' ep hat dep ,to form score.

The claims herein. are intended to cover a" filed January 8, 1902, I show my present-iri- The here -n-di 'scidsed playing=ballis inside the subject-matter. of my'other pending ap- I a, #15- Having described" my invention, Icl-aJini-jconsisting in forcing a fiuent mass into the interior of, a collapsible sphere and hardening.

process infprod'eing' plying-balls H consisting in reducing {material to' a fluent. 1'

loo

rib

sufiic'ient fluent massf v m 1 said spltere, and causing saidmass'toharden I ,msa

""' ,"ZL1I p sreess HI 'ptwiu uiu lltlvJ'lllb Uitiin, ctmsistlng in molding a core within a previously-formed collapsible hollow sphere.

5, A process in producing playingrballs, consisting in stretchinga soft sheet-rubber envelop= upon a core.

6. A process in producing playing-balls, consisting in distending a sheet-rubber envelop upon acore of gutta-percha.

7,. A process in producing playingwballs,

consisting in distending a soft sheet-rubber envelop upon'a core of harder springy material.

8. A process in producing playing-balls, consisting in forcing a moldable mass through a hole formed in a hollow sphere causing said mass to harden and form a core, and then plugging said hole.

9. A process in producing playing-balls, consisting in forcingsufficientmass through a hole formed in a yielding hollow sphere to form a core whose hulk exceeds the original capacity of the sphere, so as to expand said sphere, and then plugging said hole.

' solidify under pressure. i-

10.- A process in producing playing-balls, consisting in reducing. a mass of solid matter to a'fiuent condition, introducing said mass through a hole formed in a hollow rubber sphere until said sphere is distended and then plugging up said hole.

11, A process in producing playing-balls, consisting in reducing a mass of yielding solid matter to a fluent condit ion,forcing said mass into a hollow rubber sphere, until said sphere is distended, and causing said mass to harden while under pressure.

12. A process, in producing playing-halls, consisting in reducing solid matter toafluent' state by means'of heat, and forcing said m'at-.

ter into a hollow sphere. 13., A process in producing playing-balls,

consistin gin heating gutta-percha, and intro ducingit into a hollowgrubber sphere;

. 14. .A'p'rocess inpr'gducing playing-balls,

consisting inheating gutta-peroha, and forcing it into a hollow rubber sphere'so as to dis-,

tend the latterand form a core therewithin'g '15. A process in; producing;playingeballs, consistinginzheating 'gutta-pjreha, then forc- 113: A pro'eess'in :producing playing-halls,

th latfter', and allowing said gutta-per'c'ha'to' consisting in forming a shit-rubber hollow saidsphere, heating gut-ta: percha, causingsaidgu'tta-perclia to flow through saidfunnel 'an-d -folfbe out the air through said vent,'- 'subjectiiigpth'o gutta-percha to pressure so as to distrid said rubber sphermjpreyentihg the escape of the gutta-percha through said vent consisting in placing a hollow sphere ofrubwhil 'under i'ngit through-a hole formed in a hollow rub. her-sphere 'so as-to' 'distend the interior of thefllat'ter, andthen plugging said hole withprdcess' in. producing playing-balls,

her within a larger spherical chamber, forcing heated gutta p-ercha into said sphere, thereby causing the same to distendand to be compressed against the walls of said chamber, and drying or solidifying said gutta percha before removing said sphere from saidchamber. 20. A process in producing playing-balls, consistingin placing a hollow sphere of rubber within a larger spherical chamber, foreing heated gutta-percha into said sphere until it distends sufficiently to fill 'said chamber, allowing said gutta-percha to solidify while said sphere remains in said chamber, and plugging the opening in the sphere through 'which the gutta percha is injected.

21. A process in'producing playing-balls, consisting in forming a hollow sphere of firm, highly-vulcanized rubber, inafunuel intosaid sphere, placing sai' spher Witliiiiroo aspfichamber of larger diameter,heat

.ing gutta-ferc-Ea, causing said guttap er cha id chamber, and causing said gutta-percha 22. process in. producing playing-balls, consistingin introducing a fluentmass' inte a hollow sphereof indie-rubber, permitting tlie air to escape from said hollow sphere, closing theair-vent, and iiorci-ng ext1'a' fl uent-massinto the. sphere so as to distendtlia latter.

23. A process in; producingplaying-balls,

consisting in introducing a fluid massint -as hollow sphere of india-rubbe'r; permittingth air toescape from-said hollow sphere-a a point near the. pointof introduction pf said fluid mass, closingthe airvent, and forcing extra fluent mass into the sphere sofas to vd-istend the-'latter.--

- 24.; A process in producing playing-balls, consisting in stretching a soft enyelop forcing a fluent mass thereinto and causing said massfito form a" permanent hard-coroner:

fillingtoo-large for the normal capacity of said envelop.

25;. A process in producingf playin-g-balls, consisting in'stretehing a soft envelop. forcing afiuen-tfmass thereintoand causing;- said mass to form-a permanent hard core or.

'fillingtoo'large for the normal capacity-' -of .1

said envelop, and also causing the exterior of said envelop to acquire a predetermined. form.

26. A process in producingplayingballs, consisting inintroducing a fluent mass into theinterior of a collapsible efieloff Eaifsin g the exterior of said envelop to acquire a predetermined form, and hardening said mass Within said envelop while such forrn isifiaintaifidfn, v,.. 27. A process in producing playing-balls, consisting in reducing hard material to a fluent condition, filling an envelop therewith,

' and causing said material to harden within said envelop.

28. A process in producing playing-balls consisting in reducing hard material to a fink ent condition, forcing it into an envelop so as to swell or expand the latter, and causing 1d material to harden so as to form a permanent core too large for the normal capacity of the envelop.

29. A process in producing playing-balls consisting in molding ahard springy core 

